Composer Duels!

[kyjo]

I don't think this sort of thing has been done before here, but I could be wrong! Anyways, I tried to group composers together based on nationality, time period, general style, as well as how famous they are. Bold the name of the composer you prefer overall, and feel free to do as many or few match-ups as you'd like. You can add your own ones too, especially for the earlier eras which I'm not as knowledgeable of! (Btw, the match-ups in which I bolded neither composer's name were a draw for me.)


Baroque Era:
J.S. Bach  vs.  Handel


Classical Era:
C.P.E. Bach  vs.  Boccherini (tough choice)
Haydn  vs.  Mozart
Beethoven  vs.  Schubert (very tough choice)


Romantic Era:
Mendelssohn  vs.  Schumann (tough choice)
Chopin  vs.  Liszt
Brahms  vs.  Dvořák
Rachmaninoff  vs.  Tchaikovsky
Borodin  vs.  Mussorgsky vs.  Rimsky-Korsakov
Medtner  vs.  Scriabin
Fauré  vs.  Saint-Saëns
Chausson  vs.  Franck
Bruckner  vs.  Mahler (tough choice)
R. Strauss  vs.  Wagner
Puccini  vs.  Verdi
Berwald  vs.  Gade
Raff  vs.  Reinecke
Parry  vs.  Stanford
Novák  vs.  Suk
Albéniz  vs.  Granados vs.  Turina


20th/21st Centuries (mostly):
Nielsen  vs.  Sibelius (very tough choice)
Alfvén  vs.  Atterberg  vs.  Stenhammar
Debussy  vs.  Ravel
Prokofiev  vs.  Shostakovich
Kabalevsky  vs.  Khachaturian (tough choice)
Bartók   vs.   Stravinsky
Janáček  vs.  Martinů (tough choice)
Dohnányi  vs.  Kodály
Elgar  vs.  Vaughan Williams
Britten  vs.  Walton
Delius  vs.  Holst
Finzi  vs.  Moeran (tough choice)
Alwyn  vs.  Bax
Arnold  vs.  Rubbra (not the best match-up, I'll admit)
Schoenberg  vs.  Berg  vs.  Webern
Korngold  vs.  Zemlinsky
Barber  vs.  Copland
Bernstein  vs.  Gershwin
Milhaud  vs.  Poulenc
Magnard  vs.  Roussel
Damase  vs.  Françaix
Dutilleux  vs.  Messiaen
Honegger  vs.  Frank Martin
Casella  vs.  Respighi
Lutosławski  vs.  Penderecki
Ginastera  vs.  Villa-Lobos (tough choice)
Braga Santos  vs.  Freitas Branco
Falla  vs.  Rodrigo
Holmboe  vs.  Tubin
Aho  vs.  Rautavaara
Takemitsu  vs.  Yoshimatsu


Have fun!!

[Symphonic Addict]

Renaissance Era:
Schütz vs. Monteverdi

Baroque Era:
J.S. Bach  vs.  Handel
Vivaldi vs. Telemann


Classical Era:
C.P.E. Bach  vs.  Boccherini
Haydn  vs.  Mozart (tough choice)
Beethoven  vs.  Schubert
Hummel vs. Ries


Romantic Era:
Mendelssohn  vs.  Schumann
Chopin  vs.  Liszt
Brahms  vs.  Dvořák (draw)
Rachmaninoff  vs.  Tchaikovsky
Borodin  vs.  Mussorgsky vs.  Rimsky-Korsakov
Medtner  vs.  Scriabin
Fauré  vs.  Saint-Saëns
Chausson  vs.  Franck
Bruckner  vs.  Mahler (draw)
R. Strauss  vs.  Wagner
Glinka vs. Balakirev
Puccini  vs.  Verdi
Berwald  vs.  Gade
Raff  vs.  Reinecke
Parry  vs.  Stanford
Novák  vs.  Suk
Albéniz  vs.  Granados vs.  Turina
Halvorsen vs. Svendsen


20th/21st Centuries (mostly):
Glazunov vs. Taneyev
Nielsen  vs.  Sibelius (some love for Carl!)
Alfvén  vs.  Atterberg
Rosenberg vs. Stenhammar
von Koch vs. Rangström
Debussy  vs.  Ravel
Prokofiev  vs.  Shostakovich
Kabalevsky  vs.  Khachaturian
Bartók   vs.   Stravinsky
Janáček  vs.  Martinů (draw)
Dohnányi  vs.  Kodály
Elgar  vs.  Vaughan Williams
Britten  vs.  Walton
Delius  vs.  Holst vs. Bantock
Finzi  vs.  Moeran
Alwyn  vs.  Bax (draw)
Riisager vs. Langgaard
Arnold  vs.  Rubbra
Schoenberg  vs.  Berg  vs.  Webern
Korngold  vs.  Zemlinsky (draw)
Barber  vs.  Copland (draw)
Bernstein  vs.  Gershwin
Milhaud  vs.  Poulenc
Magnard  vs.  Roussel
Damase  vs.  Françaix
Dutilleux  vs.  Messiaen
Honegger  vs.  Frank Martin
Casella  vs.  Respighi
Lutosławski  vs.  Penderecki (draw)
Villa-Lobos vs. Guarnieri
Ginastera vs. Revueltas
Braga Santos  vs.  Freitas Branco
Arnell vs. Lloyd
Tippett vs. Simpson
Wirén vs. Larsson
Falla  vs.  Rodrigo
Holmboe  vs.  Tubin (draw)
Rawsthorne vs. Frankel
Aho  vs.  Rautavaara
Popov vs. Eshpai (tough choice)
Takemitsu  vs.  Yoshimatsu

[DavidW]

If I had no idea I just struck it out.

Baroque Era:
J.S. Bach  vs.  Handel


Classical Era:
C.P.E. Bach  vs.  Boccherini
Haydn  vs.  Mozart
Beethoven  vs.  Schubert


Romantic Era:
Mendelssohn  vs.  Schumann
Chopin  vs.  Liszt
Brahms  vs.  Dvořák
Rachmaninoff  vs.  Tchaikovsky
Borodin  vs.  Mussorgsky vs.  Rimsky-Korsakov
Medtner  vs.  Scriabin
Fauré  vs.  Saint-Saëns
Chausson  vs.  Franck
Bruckner  vs.  Mahler
R. Strauss  vs.  Wagner
Puccini  vs.  Verdi
Berwald  vs.  Gade
Raff  vs.  Reinecke
Parry  vs.  Stanford
Novák  vs.  Suk
Albéniz  vs.  Granados vs.  Turina


20th/21st Centuries (mostly):
Nielsen  vs.  Sibelius
Alfvén  vs.  Atterberg  vs.  Stenhammar
Debussy  vs.  Ravel
Prokofiev  vs.  Shostakovich
Kabalevsky vs.  Khachaturian
Bartók  vs.   Stravinsky
Janáček  vs.  Martinů
Dohnányi  vs.  Kodály
Elgar  vs.  Vaughan Williams
Britten  vs.  Walton
Delius  vs.  Holst
Finzi  vs.  Moeran
Alwyn  vs.  Bax
Arnold  vs.  Rubbra
Schoenberg  vs.  Berg  vs.  Webern
Korngold  vs.  Zemlinsky
Barber  vs.  Copland
Bernstein  vs.  Gershwin
Milhaud  vs.  Poulenc
Magnard  vs.  Roussel
Damase  vs.  Françaix
Dutilleux  vs.  Messiaen
Honegger  vs.  Frank Martin
Casella  vs.  Respighi
Lutosławski  vs.  Penderecki
Ginastera  vs.  Villa-Lobos
Braga Santos  vs.  Freitas Branco
Falla  vs.  Rodrigo
Holmboe  vs.  Tubin
Aho  vs.  Rautavaara
Takemitsu  vs.  Yoshimatsu

[vers la flamme]

Baroque Era:
J.S. Bach  vs.  Handel (but it was REALLY tough)

Classical Era:
C.P.E. Bach  vs.  Boccherini
Haydn  vs.  Mozart
Beethoven  vs.  Schubert (no way am I picking between these two)


Romantic Era:
Mendelssohn  vs.  Schumann (I love Mendelssohn, but Schumann is top 5 all time for me)
Chopin  vs.  Liszt (too hard)
Brahms  vs.  Dvořák
Rachmaninoff  vs.  Tchaikovsky (tough)
Borodin  vs.  Mussorgsky vs.  Rimsky-Korsakov
Medtner  vs.  Scriabin (and it's not even close, but maybe I need to give Medtner more of a chance)
Fauré  vs.  Saint-Saëns (tough)
Chausson  vs.  Franck (easy)
Bruckner  vs.  Mahler (not choosing)
R. Strauss  vs.  Wagner
Puccini  vs.  Verdi (need to hear more of both!)
Berwald  vs.  Gade
Raff  vs.  Reinecke (never heard a note of Raff, never even heard of Reinecke)
Parry  vs.  Stanford
Novák  vs.  Suk
Albéniz  vs.  Granados vs.  Turina


20th/21st Centuries (mostly):
Nielsen  vs.  Sibelius
Alfvén  vs.  Atterberg  vs.  Stenhammar (never heard any Alfvén though)
Debussy  vs.  Ravel (super tough)
Prokofiev  vs.  Shostakovich
Kabalevsky  vs.  Khachaturian
Bartók   vs.   Stravinsky
Janáček  vs.  Martinů
Dohnányi  vs.  Kodály
Elgar  vs.  Vaughan Williams (tough, I guess I'd have flip flopped this roughly 1 year ago)
Britten  vs.  Walton (need to hear more of both)
Delius  vs.  Holst
Finzi  vs.  Moeran (don't have much of an opinion on either)
Alwyn  vs.  Bax (I like Bax, but easy win for Alwyn here)
Arnold  vs.  Rubbra (never heard a note of Rubbra, but Arnold would beat almost any English composer he's matched with in my book)
Schoenberg  vs.  Berg  vs.  Webern (out of personal loyalty, Webern being the first I discovered, but I love all three almost equally and for different reasons)
Korngold  vs.  Zemlinsky (need to hear more of both)
Barber  vs.  Copland (another recent flip-flop)
Bernstein  vs.  Gershwin
Milhaud  vs.  Poulenc
Magnard  vs.  Roussel
Damase  vs.  Françaix
Dutilleux  vs.  Messiaen (but it's tough)
Honegger  vs.  Frank Martin
Casella  vs.  Respighi
Lutosławski  vs.  Penderecki (but it's tough)
Ginastera  vs.  Villa-Lobos
Braga Santos  vs.  Freitas Branco
Falla  vs.  Rodrigo
Holmboe  vs.  Tubin (easy win for Tubin)
Aho  vs.  Rautavaara
Takemitsu  vs.  Yoshimatsu (I like Yoshimatsu but it's no contest)

[San Antone]

IF I either don't care for either composer, or like both very much, I did not choose one over the other.  I also added Early Music with three choices.

Early Music:
Machaut vs Dufay vs Josquin

Baroque Era:
J.S. Bach  vs.  Handel


Classical Era:
C.P.E. Bach  vs.  Boccherini
Haydn  vs.  Mozart
Beethoven  vs.  Schubert


Romantic Era:
Mendelssohn  vs.  Schumann
Chopin  vs.  Liszt
Brahms  vs.  Dvořák
Rachmaninoff  vs.  Tchaikovsky
Borodin  vs.  Mussorgsky vs.  Rimsky-Korsakov
Medtner  vs.  Scriabin
Fauré  vs.  Saint-Saëns
Chausson  vs.  Franck
Bruckner  vs.  Mahler
R. Strauss  vs.  Wagner
Puccini  vs.  Verdi
Berwald  vs.  Gade
Raff  vs.  Reinecke
Parry  vs.  Stanford
Novák  vs.  Suk
Albéniz  vs.  Granados vs.  Turina


20th/21st Centuries (mostly):
Nielsen  vs.  Sibelius
Alfvén  vs.  Atterberg  vs.  Stenhammar
Debussy  vs.  Ravel
Prokofiev  vs.  Shostakovich
Kabalevsky  vs.  Khachaturian
Bartók  vs.  Stravinsky
Janáček  vs.  Martinů
Dohnányi  vs.  Kodály
Elgar  vs.  Vaughan Williams
Britten  vs.  Walton
Delius  vs.  Holst
Finzi  vs.  Moeran
Alwyn  vs.  Bax
Arnold  vs.  Rubbra
Schoenberg  vs.  Berg  vs.  Webern
Korngold  vs.  Zemlinsky
Barber  vs.  Copland
Bernstein  vs.  Gershwin
Milhaud  vs.  Poulenc
Magnard  vs.  Roussel
Damase  vs.  Françaix
Dutilleux  vs.  Messiaen
Honegger  vs.  Frank Martin
Casella  vs.  Respighi
Lutosławski  vs.  Penderecki
Ginastera  vs.  Villa-Lobos
Braga Santos  vs.  Freitas Branco
Falla  vs.  Rodrigo
Holmboe  vs.  Tubin
Aho  vs.  Rautavaara
Takemitsu  vs.  Yoshimatsu

[Lisztianwagner]

Early Music:
Machaut vs Dufay vs Josquin (I'm sorry I don't know any of those composers)

Baroque Era:
J.S. Bach  vs.  Handel


Classical Era:
C.P.E. Bach  vs.  Boccherini
Haydn  vs.  Mozart
Beethoven  vs.  Schubert


Romantic Era:
Mendelssohn  vs.  Schumann
Chopin  vs.  Liszt
Brahms  vs.  Dvořák (rather tough choice)
Rachmaninoff  vs.  Tchaikovsky (but very tough!)
Borodin  vs.  Mussorgsky vs.  Rimsky-Korsakov
Medtner  vs.  Scriabin
Fauré  vs.  Saint-Saëns
Chausson  vs.  Franck
Bruckner  vs.  Mahler
R. Strauss  vs.  Wagner
Puccini  vs.  Verdi
Berwald  vs.  Gade
Raff  vs.  Reinecke
Parry  vs.  Stanford
Novák  vs.  Suk
Albéniz  vs.  Granados vs.  Turina


20th/21st Centuries (mostly):
Nielsen  vs.  Sibelius (by a hair)
Alfvén  vs.  Atterberg  vs.  Stenhammar
Debussy  vs.  Ravel
Prokofiev  vs.  Shostakovich
Kabalevsky  vs.  Khachaturian
Bartók  vs.  Stravinsky
Janáček  vs.  Martinů
Dohnányi  vs.  Kodály
Elgar  vs.  Vaughan Williams (tough)
Britten  vs.  Walton
Delius  vs.  Holst
Finzi  vs.  Moeran
Alwyn  vs.  Bax
Arnold  vs.  Rubbra
Schoenberg  vs.  Berg  vs.  Webern
Korngold  vs.  Zemlinsky
Barber  vs.  Copland
Bernstein  vs.  Gershwin (draw in this case)
Milhaud  vs.  Poulenc (another draw)
Magnard  vs.  Roussel
Damase  vs.  Françaix
Dutilleux  vs.  Messiaen
Honegger  vs.  Frank Martin
Casella  vs.  Respighi
Lutosławski  vs.  Penderecki
Ginastera  vs.  Villa-Lobos
Braga Santos  vs.  Freitas Branco
Falla  vs.  Rodrigo
Holmboe  vs.  Tubin
Aho  vs.  Rautavaara
Takemitsu  vs.  Yoshimatsu

[Wanderer]

Schütz vs. Monteverdi

J.S. Bach  vs.  Händel
Vivaldi vs. Telemann
Leclair vs. Locatelli
Lully vs. Charpentier
Gluck vs. Rameau
Caldara vs. Zelenka

C.P.E. Bach  vs.  Boccherini
Haydn  vs.  Mozart
Beethoven  vs.  Schubert
Hummel vs. Ries
Salieri vs. Cherubini

Rossini vs. Meyerbeer
Bellini vs. Donizetti


Auber vs. Berlioz
Mendelssohn  vs.  Schumann
Chopin  vs.  Liszt
Alkan vs. Thalberg
Brahms  vs.  Dvořák 
Rachmaninov  vs.  Tchaikovsky
Borodin  vs.  Mussorgsky vs.  Rimsky-Korsakov
Medtner  vs.  Scriabin
Fauré  vs.  Saint-Saëns
Bruckner  vs.  Mahler
R. Strauss  vs.  Wagner
Schmidt vs. Reger
Glinka vs. Balakirev
Puccini  vs.  Verdi

Glazunov vs. Taneyev
Nielsen  vs.  Sibelius
Alfvén  vs.  Atterberg
Rosenberg vs. Stenhammar
Debussy  vs.  Ravel
Prokofiev  vs.  Shostakovich
Kabalevsky  vs.  Khachaturian
Bartók   vs.   Stravinsky
Janáček  vs.  Martinů 
Dohnányi  vs.  Kodály
Elgar  vs.  Vaughan Williams
Britten  vs.  Walton
Delius  vs. Foulds
Holst vs. Bantock
Alwyn  vs.  Bax
Riisager vs. Langgaard
Arnold  vs.  Rubbra
Schoenberg  vs.  Berg
Webern vs. Skalkottas
Korngold  vs.  Zemlinsky vs. Schreker
Milhaud  vs.  Poulenc
Dutilleux  vs.  Messiaen
Honegger  vs.  Frank Martin 
Casella  vs.  Respighi


(Winners in bold text. Entries that elicited a "who cares" reaction were stricken off the list.)  

[Wanderer]

Berwald  vs.  Gade
Raff  vs.  Reinecke
Parry  vs.  Stanford
Novák  vs.  Suk
Albéniz  vs.  Granados vs.  Turina

Addendum. These eluded me!

Berwald  vs.  Gade
Raff  vs.  Reinecke
Parry  vs.  Stanford (close call, though)
Novák  vs.  Suk (same)
Albéniz  vs.  Granados vs.  Turina

[kyjo]

Thanks for playing, everyone! I'll tackle a few of the match-ups that Cesar and Wanderer added:

Vivaldi vs. Telemann (draw)
Hummel vs. Ries
Alkan vs. Thalberg
Glinka vs. Balakirev
Halvorsen vs. Svendsen
Glazunov vs. Taneyev (tough choice)
Schmidt vs. Reger
Rosenberg vs. Stenhammar
von Koch vs. Rangström (draw)
Riisager vs. Langgaard
Villa-Lobos vs. Guarnieri
Ginastera vs. Revueltas
Arnell vs. Lloyd (Good one! I was trying to think of someone appropriate to pair Lloyd with.)
Tippett vs. Simpson
Wirén vs. Larsson (draw)
Rawsthorne vs. Frankel
Popov vs. Eshpai


And some more that I thought of (with some 4-ways to keep things interesting):

Grieg vs. Smetana (two major Romantic nationalists who've gotten left out so far)
Arriaga vs. Lekeu vs. Lili Boulanger (tragically short-lived composers)
Bacewicz vs. Tansman (draw)
Schnittke vs. Weinberg
Glière vs. Myaskovsky
Leroy Anderson vs. Eric Coates (draw)
Badings vs. Vermeulen
Ben-Haim vs. Saygun (two of the major "Middle Eastern" composers of the mid-20th century)
Enescu vs. Szymanowski (draw)
Cras vs. Pierné vs. Ropartz
Castelnuovo-Tedesco vs. Malipiero vs. Pizzetti vs. Rota (tough choice)
Leifs vs. Tveitt
Madetoja vs. Melartin vs. Merikanto
Furtwängler vs. Weingartner (as composers )
K. A. Hartmann vs. Henze
Peter Sculthorpe vs. Carl Vine (draw)
Peter Mennin vs. William Schuman
Diamond vs. Hanson vs. Harris vs. Piston
J.C. Adams vs. Philip Glass vs. Steve Reich
Górecki vs. Pärt vs. Tavener (though I'm not too familiar with most of their music)

[DavidW]

Vivaldi vs. Telemann
Hummel vs. Ries
Alkan vs. Thalberg
Glinka vs. Balakirev
Halvorsen vs. Svendsen
Glazunov vs. Taneyev
Schmidt vs. Reger
Rosenberg vs. Stenhammar
von Koch vs. Rangström
Riisager vs. Langgaard
Villa-Lobos vs. Guarnieri
Ginastera vs. Revueltas
Arnell vs. Lloyd
Tippett vs. Simpson
Wirén vs. Larsson
Rawsthorne vs. Frankel
Popov vs. Eshpai

Grieg vs. Smetana
Arriaga vs. Lekeu vs. Lili Boulanger
Bacewicz vs. Tansman
Schnittke vs. Weinberg
Glière vs. Myaskovsky
Leroy Anderson vs. Eric Coates
Badings vs. Vermeulen
Ben-Haim vs. Saygun
Enescu vs. Szymanowski
Cras vs. Pierné vs. Ropartz
Castelnuovo-Tedesco vs. Malipiero vs. Pizzetti vs. Rota
Leifs vs. Tveitt
Madetoja vs. Melartin vs. Merikanto
Furtwängler vs. Weingartner
K. A. Hartmann vs. Henze
Peter Sculthorpe vs. Carl Vine
Peter Mennin vs. William Schuman
Diamond vs. Hanson vs. Harris vs. Piston
J.C. Adams vs. Philip Glass vs. Steve Reich
Górecki vs. Pärt vs. Tavener

[vers la flamme]

Omitting the ones I know nothing about...

Vivaldi vs. Telemann (but it's close)
Alkan vs. Thalberg (I really like Alkan, don't know Thalberg all that well)
Glinka vs. Balakirev
Tippett vs. Simpson

Grieg vs. Smetana
Arriaga vs. Lekeu vs. Lili Boulanger
Schnittke vs. Weinberg
Enescu vs. Szymanowski
Castelnuovo-Tedesco vs. Malipiero vs. Pizzetti vs. Rota
Furtwängler vs. Weingartner
K. A. Hartmann vs. Henze
Peter Mennin vs. William Schuman
J.C. Adams vs. Philip Glass vs. Steve Reich (though Adams is misplaced here)
Górecki vs. Pärt vs. Tavener (strongly, though I don't know that Pärt has written a work as great as Górecki's 3rd)

[Symphonic Addict]

Grieg vs. Smetana
Arriaga vs. Lekeu vs. Lili Boulanger
Bacewicz vs. Tansman
Schnittke vs. Weinberg (much as I admire Weinberg, for me Schnittke is the more original and groundbreaking composer)
Glière vs. Myaskovsky (draw)
Leroy Anderson vs. Eric Coates (not familiar with either)
Badings vs. Vermeulen
Ben-Haim vs. Saygun (draw)
Enescu vs. Szymanowski (Szymanowski for a small margin)
Cras vs. Pierné vs. Ropartz (draw between Cras and Pierné)
Castelnuovo-Tedesco vs. Malipiero vs. Pizzetti vs. Rota (hard to choose, but Malipiero is a more interesting composer to me)
Leifs vs. Tveitt
Madetoja vs. Melartin vs. Merikanto
Furtwängler vs. Weingartner
K. A. Hartmann vs. Henze (no-brainer)
Peter Sculthorpe vs. Carl Vine
Peter Mennin vs. William Schuman
Diamond vs. Hanson vs. Harris vs. Piston
J.C. Adams vs. Philip Glass vs. Steve Reich
Górecki vs. Pärt vs. Tavener

[DaveF]

IF I either don't care for either composer, or like both very much, I did not choose one over the other.  I also added Early Music with three choices.

Early Music:
Machaut vs Dufay vs Josquin

Since they are separated by the same amounts of time as are Haydn, Brahms and Stravinsky respectively, I don't see why we should do without any of them!  Allow me to propose instead:

Machaut vs Ciconia
Du Fay vs Dunstaple
Josquin vs Fayrfax (sadly)

Much better